I guess we're close enough to the finish line for a thread of highlights, and before everyone passes out from too much eggnog. We'll take low lights to, mine being the crash on black ice in Feb resulting in cracked rib.
Highlight - Mt Evans - almost epic - that one had it all, tons of uphill (out of shape), rain, wet snow, wind, hail and sunshine when it mattered (ya ya, we knowst about the helmet strap)
http://www.velonation.com/Forums/aff/9/aft/493/afv/topic.aspx

O.C., I worked at a bike shop called Lifecycle in '77; the Fuji dealer and distributor for the Boston area. The shop is long gone but that is a fond memory; the year I was super fit, super strong (and raced quite dumb). The last months of my old life, before my big crash.

This has been a year of more lows (bike related) than highs. Off the bike twice for extended spells for serious local infections. Painful crash in June. Busted collarbone and undiagnosed cracked rib. So much road rash I was afraid I would bet quarantined as infectious. (The ortho and I both knew I had a cracked rib, but since we both knew there was nothing to do, we kept our mouths shut. He mentioned it on my last visit, I asked him how he knew, he noted that I had said it hurt to breath deeply. We laughed about our respective silence and knowledge.

Highlights? Riding 150 miles at the weekend Cycle Oregon 5 weeks after the crash. The week in God's country and the unbelievably clean air and amazingly healthy kids of south eastern Oregon (John Day south to Diamond and back). Being able to and wanting to get back on the bike after every setback.

No highlights to speak of. I managed to make my goal of 5,000 mi back in November. I had eye surgery on Oct 17th, which threw me for a loop. I had some complications ( I won't go into the boring details) my eye was slow to heal. My riding since has been spotty to say the least. Never take your health for granted.

No highlights for me....after a great winter / early Spring of training and laying the groundwork for mud best fitness levels in years, my season was derailed once again by injury....this time plantar fasciitis.

I hate running..

Edit - OK, one highlight. Did a bike race for the first time in 5 years. Ride strong and felt great to be back in a peloton.

sort of a down year for cycling as far as going fast and long. i did do a self supported tour of the hill country in texas back in april which was the high point of the year. it was supposed to be around 300 miles but due to weather and inexperience, it ended up being around 170 miles. i've been reading blogs about cycle touring and people that go for months or years. this tour opened my eyes to the amount of durability a person needs to do something like that. i also commuted probably 90% of my trips to work. barring rain or appointments i rode the short trip to work and back home at lunch then back again. we also vacationed out in idaho and drove through yellowstone. that looks like some great county to cycle through. i rented a bike in boise and did a few hours of riding in the hills and around town. riding a bike through yellowstone and the grand tetons is on my list. another highlight is getting a dvd player that lets me stream the cyclocrossable channel on to my tv.

Upon further thought, I'll also toss in our group's ride at the Sub-5 Hour Century Challenge. IN the lead-up to the ride, I had less than 100 miles in the previous 6 weeks (or some similar, ridiculously low number). Knocked out over 200 miles in the week leading up to the ride and managed to suck wheels and finish with the first group. We finished in 4'19" and change, IIRC.

I accepted that my knees are limiting my riding both in terms of distance and intensity. I learned to enjoy commuting and just riding around. For a third year in a row, I took a picture each day I rode a bike. A selection of twelve pictures - one for each month of the year - behind the link:

CK -- you need to be reminded of Velominati Rule #42: "A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run. If it’s preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run, it is not called a bike race, it is called duathlon or a triathlon. Neither of which is a bike race. Also keep in mind that one should only swim in order to prevent drowning, and should only run if being chased. And even then, one should only run fast enough to prevent capture."

I just remembered mine this morning. The bees! The weekend Cycle Oregon, riding two days out of Corvallis, mid July. Camped on the Oregon State football fields or in dorm rooms. Day rides of about 75 miles (with several shorter option). This was the second day. The morning was cool. We spent the early miles riding past large fields of alfalfa and the like, often seeing rows of wooden boxes not far from the road.

In the late miles we were coming back on similar roads. We had 60+ miles on our legs and it was quite warm. Became quite apparent that those boxes were beehives. Now that it was warm and the bees were doing their thing. We saw quite a few. But we were just seeing them. No problem. Then were went past just another large field; perhaps a half mile long. Just like all the rest. But for whatever reason, the bee traffic pattern was different. Now thousands of bees were flying home loaded with cargo, altitudes of 4-12 feet, flying across this road at about a 30 degree angle, so they were nearly opposing the hundreds of riders. It was impossible not to hit dozens. There was no way of dodging them.

But that wasn't what happened. We all saw the same thing. (Well, at lest all of us who kept our eyes open!) The bees would veer away. I got hit by maybe 5. Good, solid thumps. Probably did those bees no good at all. But the vast majority of sure collisions never happened. These were small, very advanced aircraft with instantaneous maneuvering skills, a wonderful detection system (those huge eyes), flawless navigation and a mission ethic that would make any of the worlds finest militaries proud. Every one of those aircraft was armed with a weapon that could kill (those of us with allergies to bee stings). But they held their fire. That wasn't in their mission statement. Bringing back that precious cargo was what they were tasked to do and they did it with a precision that was amazing to watch.

Those bees are endangered. They are dying by the hive to a strange aliment that is probably a product or byproduct of our modern agricultural system, or our industry in general. There is probably no animal we, as humans, owe more to for our basic food than those large insects. (I'm just guessing, but they pollinate, what, 95% of all the wheat, corn, soybeans, and apples we and the animals that are our food eat?) And the life of a worker bee is as hard and selfless as it gets. They live for several weeks. Fly missions like I described above their entire life until their wings are too worn to carry cargo and justify the hive food they eat. Then they are escorted by a young worker to beyond their now limited flying range and left to die. They do nothing but work for the good of their hive. And do that mission with a precision and ethic that is amazing.

I'm guessing stories from that afternoon will be passed down though both cultures.

Broke my collar bone in February. Everything got better after that. Surprised and warming up to Cookson at the UCI. I met Pat a couple of times and I liked him but I also found him intimidating. I don't think I will miss him however. Stage 13 of the tour and the stage from Strathmore to Drumheller in the tour of Alberta, as well as the final stage into Calgary were my racing highlights. Another year passed without a pilgrimage to Hurricane Ridge, Shawnigan Lake, or a single ride of 100 km+. I managed my annual 6000km. I learned a rider I have followed since he was a junior was not the paragon of virtue I wanted to believe and I learned that for the most part it did not change the fact that I still believe in his innate ability to achieve his victories since that time? I am seeing a change in the sport that makes me believe we have turned a corner and most of the victories are being earned the honest way. I am still sad to see that the 3 GT winners are still all considered to be boosted regardless of physical evidence and that there is a faith based cadre of doping faithful that are so cyclical I cannot see any reason they bother with cycling? I like this forum as small a group as it is, it is most civil. Happy New year